I finished my Belle.

www.naehfreundin.blogspot.com

Low activity levels?

I have been stalled on my Silver Belle for a week and a half now, hoping that more people were going to respond to my query re blocking - thanks Lauren for being the only one to respond. And it doesn't look like anyone has responded to TK's query re the peplum (unless they did it privately).

Is the activity level on the KAL too low for us to get help? Have the majority finished their Silver Belle and now no longer visit?

I'm still trying to decide whether to start over again after 80 rows on my sleeve, or whether to persevere with my blocked/stretched first start.

Sharon

La Belle Dame Sans Merci

The merciless Belle is done! I have been knitting along, but haven't posted until now. Here are the details: The yarn is Luxor by Lana Grossa, purchased at LaLaine in Berlin last summer. It took 11 1/2 skeins on #6 needles. I went by the medium pattern but lengthened the skirt, sleeves, and bodice. I also did an additional stitch decrease on the skirt.

The inspiration for this project came from a visit to the Rust Kammer (Armor Museum) in Dresden, Germany, where it occurred to me that I wanted to knit some armor! The yarn looked appropriately metallic, and the pattern in the Vogue Silver Anniversary issue seemed appropriately armorial.

I loved this project. I started just after Christmas and completed it March 3. It was never boring, and I learned a lot about fixing mistakes without ripping back.

Thanks to everyone who posted comments and advice as they were knitting the Belle, and good luck to those who are still working on it.

Silver Belle Peplum Help!!

I am on the row where it says to cast off next 100 sts and I have no idea what the next instruction meant. Please can some explain it to me what that whole section mean by P2tog over center 2 sts o each cable, work until 12 sts from last bind-off for center back, bind off next 100 sts, work to end for right front buttonhole band. I can't figure out what to do here. Please help.

Thank you
TK

Query re blocking to size

After getting gauge on 3.25 mm needles, I have now knit four repeats of Chart E on the sleeve (80 rows). However I have been dismayed to find that the sleeve is far too tight. In part this is because I chose to knit the Small size, after reading the posts here. But when I look at the diagram, even the small is supposed to be 11 inches at the cuff. My sleeve cuff is about 2 inches smaller than that. Dismayed at the idea of starting over again, I tried pinning the sleeve out to 10 inches at the cuff, and 15.5 inches at the top (row 80) and wet blocking it. After leaving it to dry, the sleeve is remaining at this measurement and now fits. But the knitting looks rather stretched out to me, and the purl stitches are gaping around some of the extreme cable bends, so I'm kind of thinking that I shouldn't be blocking it out that wide. I'm not a particularly tight knitter, and I did get gauge, so I don't understand why my sleeve is coming out so much narrower than the pattern.

So my query is: when you knit your sleeve, was it the final measurement immediately (e.g. 11 inches at the cuff) or did you have to block it out wider?

End of february....

finished lower panel knit on right sleeve